By Lisa Leath Turpin, Health & Wellness Coach
The internet is crawling with self-made social media “gurus” leading people away from “cardio.” This has prompted me to counterbalance this attack on our bodies’ fundamental and foundational inner system. Without strengthening your inner system, you will have a hard time doing other more strenuous activities. Your inner system, a.k.a., your cardiovascular system, manages your blood flow, cleans your arteries, builds your heart’s efficiency and transports oxygen to your organs and muscles so they can perform their jobs.
Training your cardiovascular system to run like a finely tuned machine can make every other aspect of your life easier. Your weight training will become less laborious, allowing you to get more out of your workouts and daily activities. In Destin, where we live in the heat for a large portion of the year, having an efficient and strong cardiovascular system will help you manage the heat better. Additionally, it aids in weight management, making you feel less cumbersome in the heat.
All exercise is progressive—meaning you must work at it consistently to see results. Inconsistent efforts will reflect in your progress. Training is all about consistency. Think of life as a sport, and we are all training for the marathon of life. Consistency creates habits and habits create strength.
Life is movement, and if we go above and beyond the basics, then the basics become easier. Everyday life becomes less cumbersome. It is rare to go through life without any aches and pains. But, exercise generally improves this in the long run. Exercise rarely causes more harm; it often alleviates the aches, pains or glitches you might experience. Sometimes, you need to rest, as rest is part of the process. However, being still and stagnant for too long can worsen your condition. This is why doctors encourage movement immediately after surgery, even if you are not pain-free. Waiting to be pain-free might never come and doing nothing will only make you weaker and worse.
Supporting Studies
Research consistently shows that exercise training, including steady-state cardiovascular exercise, reduces the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and improves overall cardiovascular health. Current guidelines recommend specific levels of physical activity for various age groups, emphasizing the importance of incorporating exercise into daily routines. Even lower-intensity physical activity has demonstrated significant benefits in reducing mortality rates and increasing life expectancy among individuals at risk of CVD.
Steady-state cardio activities like jogging, cycling and swimming are still valuable and, in some cases, may even be preferable to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts. These activities provide protection against coronary heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. Regular exercise helps people live longer, mainly because it prevents early death from heart disease.
Cardiovascular Health Statistics
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounted for 941,652 deaths in the U.S. in 2022.
- Heart disease and stroke claimed more lives in 2022 in the U.S. than all forms of cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined.
- In 2022, coronary heart disease (CHD) was the leading cause of deaths attributable to CVD in the U.S., followed by stroke.
- Approximately every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. will have a myocardial infarction.
- In 2022, 702,880 people died from heart disease in the U.S., equivalent to 1 in every 5 deaths.
- Regular exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 30%.
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